#muck warefare

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There was a hiss in the quiet room as the capsule bed finally opened up, a small puff of steam escaping as the air was released and the Gorm inside took a step out. Zane rubbed his head and started to stretch out his stiff body.  "Ooooh man, I hate sessions like that."  He grumbled quietly to himself, walking over to the wall mounted computer and tapped it, bringing up some information screens.

"Rest Session Log Extensive Repair Needed - Elapsed Time: 1 week, five days, seventeen hours, thirty-eight minutes, eleven seconds."

Zane’s ears twitched as he read that, "Nearly two weeks? It must have been worse than I thought."  That thought only lasted a second though as a more immediate thought came to mind. "Geez...I better get in touch with the others quick!"

He stepped out of his room and walked down the hall, taking the elevator that lead to the main operations room where he and the other agents on Swog operated from.  According to the time it was around midday, so there weren't too many here, but thankfully Zane did see one of the two he was hoping to see was still here.  "Hey Ryner!"

The Glimneon was standing by one of the agent terminals, her antenna twitching as she heard the voice and looked over. "Zane." She said, giving him a nod before going back to her work. "Good to see you up and around again.  That must have been one heck of a hit."

"Yeah I guess so."  He smiled a little as he stepped over, "Repairs took a lot longer than I expected, did I miss anything?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." She said, still looking at the screen as she tapped at it a bit.  "Command was informed of your condition, so nothing to worry about there. Things have been quiet, so more or less the same."

"Well that's good then."  Zane said before he started to look around. "Hey, do you know where I might find Kaz?"

"No idea."  She said simply, "He hasn't been around here since the mission."  

Zane frowned at that.  "Is he okay?"

Ryner let out a small grumble as she closed the screen on the terminal, turning to look over at the Gorm.  "I don't know.  I don’t like hanging out around him, so I haven't really seen him aside from the odd Muck game.”  She paused,   “Though I admit, he hasn't been his annoying self during those matches."

Zane was starting to worry more when he heard that.  "That doesn't sound like him..."  He sighed and he rubbed his head, "Okay, well thanks.  I'm gonna head out and see if I can find him."

"Don't you want to report in first?"

"I can wait and do that later." He said, turning and rushing out.  He had been gone this long, a little extra time wouldn’t hurt.

--

This wasn't like Kaz at all.  He wasn't at home, he wasn't answering his comm, he wasn't at the ice cream shop or hanging out at any of the Muck Warfare shops or playing fields.  Where was he?

Zane was getting a little worried, the teenage Needlix was a lot easier to get a hold of than this, but he wasn't out of ideas just yet.  Kaz did like exploring around in some of the more rural areas, walking through the mushroom forests or nearby the slime ponds.  Maybe he was somewhere around there!

He hurried along the roads, moving out of the residential area and into the more rural areas, walking along a familiar path: the two friends usually traveled along to and from some of the Muck Warfare playing fields.  Kaz really enjoyed the scenery and he had a few spots that he hung out at.  Maybe he was hiding out here? That's what he was hoping...

Zane hurried along the path, looking around and keeping an eye out through the trees and low-hanging plants, "Where are you?"  He asked himself, but then he stopped himself, catching sight of a very familiar purple coat in a clearing not far from the path.  It was him!  He was just standing around by himself, slightly slumped and holding his slime mace over his shoulder.  The Gorm felt an immediate sense of relief as he started to head over to him.  "Kaz!  Hey Kaz!"  He called over to him.

Kaz seemed to twitch when he heard the voice, standing up straight and turning his head slightly.

"Hey Kaz!"  Zane said cheerfully, giving him a smile.  "I've been looking everywhere for you!  I know it's been a while, but I wanted to-" He had been expecting a different kind of reaction from his friend than the one that he got.  It came rather suddenly and Zane had to dodge backward as the slime mace came slamming down, crashing down where he had been moments ago with a heavy thud and a splat of purple slime exploding out.  "Wait...what?"  He looked at his friend with a concerned look, but that was returned with a hard glare.

"YOU BRAINDEAD PIECE OF CRAP!"  The teenager screamed out, "Why did you come back?!"  His voice was shaking and filled with anger, but Zane could see the turmoil on his face as tears filled his eyes and his whole form was shaking.

"Kaz, I-"  Zane tried to explain, but he had to step back again as he was met with another swing from the mace.  This time though he could see that Kaz was clearly swinging it through the air in anger and frustration.

"Those scars!  T-those scars you got!"  He yelled out again, speaking between his wild swings.  "It was because of m-me!  B-because of me!" 

Zane didn't say anything.  He hadn't looked for any scarring on his body when he woke up, but he knew that there was going to be some.

Kaz made one last huge swing with the mace, slamming it down on the ground and sending more purple slime out.  "Y-you!  You shouldn't have come back!" Finally, he dropped the mace before he fell down to his knees, shaking a little as he let out a few quiet sobs. "...I wasn't ready...I wasn't ready for that job..."

When everything seemed to have calmed down, the Gorm stepped over, kneeling down next to him.  "Kaz, listen to me."  He said, keeping his voice calm for him.  "I warned you that these jobs were going to be dangerous, but don't you go and blame yourself like this.  There is a lot of risk that comes with this, and everyone knows it. Even me."

The teen shook his head before he looked up at the gator dog, still crying.  "B-but it's my fault you got hurt-"

Zane shook his head, "The same thing would have happened if anyone else was in your place. Remember Kaz; you're my friend, and I protect all of my friends no matter what."  He gave him a smile, "Besides, it's going to take a lot more than that to take down this Gorm."

Kaz sat there quietly, wiping his eyes and nose off on his coat sleeve.  "I wasn’t ready.  I wanna get better.  Get stronger."

"And you will."  Zane said, reassuring your friend, "Just give yourself the time and you'll get better."  He rested a hand on his shoulder.  "C'mon, let's get back into town.  I've been gone for nearly two weeks and I'd rather be up and doing something.  I just know I’m gonna be rusty the next time we decide to go Mucking."

The Needlix sniffed a little before he nodded, getting up to his feet slowly. "I'm...s-sorry about...trying to whack you with Macey."

"Don't worry about it."  Zane said, smiling at him, "I know it must have been hard after all that time, I’d probably be just as frustrated."

Kaz picked up his slime mace, holding it in his hands before he stored it away back into his PD device. "Hey...Zane..."

He looked down at him, "Yeah?"